Moonlighting (1985)

Watched for Bruce Willis. The vanilla blonde with the bump on the end of her nose could have been played by anyone. I think before they asked Cybil, they asked Jimmy James to play the role.

The show was too adult for me, but I did love the theme song. I always like the secretary, her name escapes me, but she was married to Vincent Schiavelli.

Demi Moore appearing on the show

Never saw the show. The only Moonlighting I've ever seen is a film with Jeremy Irons from 1982 which seems to have fallen into complete obscurity, though it was highly acclaimed at the time (I never much cared for it).

Yes I was obsessed with this show at the time. And Cybill was actually great in the role, up until she got knocked up in real life.

I don’t know how an actor could be so appealing and sexy and charming and funny in one role and I literally could never stand him in anything since (or his real life persona, for that matter).

I used to try to curl my hair to look like Cybill’s. Always in vain.

Loved this show in the beginning and never missed it. It went to shit by the time it was over, unfortunately.

R5, that’s right, I had completely forgotten that. Wasn’t Cybill one of those women that gets pregnant, the shape of her face changed and she never looked as good again? She looked matronly after that.

[quote]Vincent Schiavelli.

I'm sorry to be cruel, but I never though there was a celeb couple uglier than Danny and Rhea, until now.

yes, I loved the music as well. I was very young, don't remember much.

Yes, r8 - I agree...her face looked washed out and pale after she came back from maternity leave. She never looked as good again.

I get sad seeing TV themes from my childhood. I miss it so much.

[quote]I don’t know how an actor could be so appealing and sexy and charming and funny in one role and I literally could never stand him in anything since (or his real life persona, for that matter).

OMG, yes. I thought he was so cool during that time. He's such a total douchebag since Die Hard and a real life asshole, too.

Yes, I watched in real time. It was a great show in its first season or two - really entertaining and clever in a way that uncommon at the time. Also, as others have noted, Bruce Willis was handsome and charming and sexy as hell in Moonlighting, whatever you think of his later career or him as a person.

Cybill memorably wore orange Reeboks to the Golden Globes at the start of their 80s resurgence.

Yes, it was peak Bruce Willis I never liked him as much again

I had to laugh @ a comment from R3's YT link of Demi Moore appearing on ML:

[quote] MissyB75 3 months ago You think those two would have made good looking kids🤷🏼‍♀️

Bruce Willis at peak hotness. Good chemistry with Cybil, also at her loveliest.

It was amazing how that show was huge and nosedived so quickly.

R15 it was the Emmys

So I'm going to ask: I know they didn't get along, but did they ever fuck? Any rumors?

They were both very attractive. I enjoyed the show but then again I was about 12 years old. Did Al Jarreau sing the theme song?

The show was little before most of our times here on DL. I was a small kid, but my parents were addicted to it. I remember Twin Peaks vaguely better as I think it debuted in 1990. Peaks and Moonlighting were similar in that they were both the GREATEST shows on the planet - lots of hype (much deserved in both cases) and then plummeted so fast it was like whiplash. Both made their mark on the genre and both were entertaining. Both were also short-lived.

Shepherd was so beautiful during that era - -

I loved this show. The pilot is excellent, like a film. Bruce and Cybill had terrific chemistry but as others have said, the show quickly went to shit after about season two. Both Bruce and Cybill's egos got in the way. They both seemed to want to be film stars rather than focus on the HIT show they had.

Though, to be fair, by the time Bruce had a hit with Die Hard, the show was shit and he had checked out.

But the first two seasons remain top-notch TV. Great writing and both Bruce and Cybill were terrific in it.

r21 I thought Cybil said they kissed and kind of made out but didn't go as far as sex

I loved Season 3 too which had some of the most creative episodes (Big Man On Mulberry Street, Atomic Shakespeare, It’s A Wonderful Job).

Cybil was interested in a Moonlighting movie. Bruce wasn't.

I watched it a couple of decades after the fact on DVD and loved it. It got sloppy but the ending was great.

It. Was. My. Life... As a completely virgin teenager, I took a plane just to look wistfully into the empty sky and ' think about the future of my relationship ' like Shepherd did in one episode. And I m a guy.

Once they started to date on the show (kinda], the sexual tension relieved and it lost that appeal.

I got this one from memory: Ms Depesto and Mr Viola.

To be fair, R8, Shepherd had twins, she wasn't that young and she was working most of the pregnancy, so that would tear you about.

I watched Moonlighting at the time, and loved it. It was very innovative for the era, often breaking the fourth wall. Cybill was shot through linoleum, especially in later episodes, and that was distracting, but the writing was very fresh and so was Bruce.

It's funny that two of the very best TV shows of the 1980s (this and Cheers) were about what were essentially losers, in sharp contrast to the Greed is Good decade and all its Dallases, Dynasties and corporate-respectful shows by that loony who made all his actresses lose 40 lb (oh yeah, David E. Kelly).

Incidentally, Moonlighting was the first American show I remember where the leads didn't drive a car that was roughly the size of a small yacht. David drove a very nice European-style BMW (on Maddie's dime).

Please do not mention Ms Dipesto and Mr Viola, R31. Two more vile creations were rarely inflicted on a TV show. I'm pretty sure they were invented to give Bruce and Cybill time off and, more importantly, time apart, since they fought like cat and dog through much of the filming (occasioning one of the series's best self-reflexive moments - an episode in which Rona Barrett interviewed Maddie and David by turns about their difficult relationship, while the plot proceeded around her).

[quote]Did Al Jarreau sing the theme song?

Yes. It's always annoyed me that when the show caught on and they wanted to release the theme commercially, Jarreau re-recorded it. The new version was stiff and overproduced, without that swingy, loose quality that makes the original so catchy. The version everybody was familiar with from the show never got a release until many years later, on some TV theme compilation CD.

Like some other posters, I was a kid when the show aired, but my dad watched it religiously and I usually watched it with him. I obviously didn't get everything at the time, but even I got taken in by the Wiilis/Shepherd chemistry and the quirkiness and wit. It went to crap when the Dave/Maddie relationship became the focus instead of just an undertone, but it was fun and unique for a while.

R9 - well, at least he has a cookbook that's not bad

[quote] Loved this show in the beginning and never missed it. It went to shit by the time it was over, unfortunately.

Unlike the two shows that aired before it which were shit from the get-go and only got worse and worse. No one would have watched them had ABC not put this at 9:00 PM.

Bruce was so hot with a head of hair. He already had all the plastic surgery then. Who can find a Pic with his original face please?

He acts like losing your hair is the worst thing that can ever happen to you. Try losing a lung, then we'll talk!

I absolutely loved this show when it was on. I was in college at the time, and Tuesday nights were Moonlighting night in the dorm’s TV lounge.

My favorite episode was the “Big Man on Mulberry Street” episode. It have everything: sexual tension, jealousy, a musical dream sequence featuring dancer and DL fave Sandahl Bergman, Bruce Willis at peak hotness, and a surprise ending that would make any good DLer stand up and cheer.

Unfortunately, the backstage BS killed the show. Bruce and Cyril are often blamed for it, but a lot of it also stemmed from creator Glenn Gordon Caron’s inability to get his shit together.

[quote]Unfortunately, the backstage BS killed the show. Bruce and Cyril are often blamed for it, but a lot of it also stemmed from creator Glenn Gordon Caron’s inability to get his shit together.

Cybill Shepherd's 1990s CBS sitcom addressed this; they did an episode with a producer obviously based on Caron.

^^^^it *had everything^^^

^^^Bruce and *Cybill^^^

Fuck off, autocorrect!

I used to love the episode where Agnes DiPesto (Allyce Beasley) came into the office dancing to “D’ya Think I’m Sexy?” by Rod Stewart...

Whoopi

Wow R38, Bruce could win DWTS

I was in college and had my own TV (which was rare then) and most of my dorm floor came over to watch. It was THE show.

I was in my teens and Bruce Willis was among my first gay crushes (the Duke boys aside.)

I was all about this scene; Bruce's boxers, hearing the word "bitch" on broadcast tv, Motown - the apex of the show.

It was mostly downhill from here.

Opps, forgot to include the link...

[Quote] Bruce was so hot with a head of hair.

He looks good with a shaved head.

Shaved. Yeah, sure, R7, whatever helps you sleep at night.

I was in college when this was on and remember it being everywhere and everyone talked about how brilliant it was. II never watched it because I was in phase where I didn't pay attention to popular culture (I was an art school snob). I remember the press said it was "deconstructed," and "post-modern" (in 1988 that phrase was a new buzzword) so I was curious. But I'd watch parts of episodes and it just seemed like a mainstream popular TV show to me.

Later in adulthood, in the early 2010's I became (re-)curious about 80's American television and started renting the discs from Netflix on a whim. And I became obsessed with this show! So much later. I now own every season on DVD. I think it's a fascinating show, and an example of "80's immersion" while watching it. I love the whole world they inhabit, it really reminds me of things back then. Whenever the characters go anywhere or do anything I'm fascinated with the background extras, the sets, the clothes, the hair the wall colors, the cars, the music, the way everyone talks, everything.

I love that they're always involved with murders and crimes but everything is wacky. The post-modern elements are "light" but do land, and only ad to a show that's already interesting. My partner watched a few episodes with me and kept saying, "It's not that funny." I explained it's not supposed to be "funny," it's a mood.

I agree with posters saying one of the show's biggest flubs was rushing David and Maddie finally hooking up. The tension between them both wanting to do this, but not doing it, was key to the show and as soon as they did all that was lost.

And I do agree the first two season are the best, although the later seasons are hardly "shit." There were some great ones. I even love one of the last episodes in the series where they're having a shoot-out with an art world murderess in a plastic surgery office, and throwing fake noses and breast implants at each other as weapons. Pure silliness, but I loved it.

Uh-oh, I may have to get my DVDs out again!

R36 Hmm, Bruce wore a hair piece throughout the show's run, right?

Subtle maybe, but I thought his hair line started much further back.

Loved the black-and-white episode "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice."

Also loved the "Atomic Shakespeare" episode

[quote]I agree with posters saying one of the show's biggest flubs was rushing David and Maddie finally hooking up. The tension between them both wanting to do this, but not doing it, was key to the show and as soon as they did all that was lost.

No one had any idea what to do with them after that storyline, that was the big problem. Of course, Shepherd got pregnant so they had to film around that. But they choices they made were bizarre in retrospect and pretty much finished the show off. . They could have easily kept them together and done something a la Hart to Hart.

Instead, they kept them apart for pretty much the entire following season, then had Maddie marry Walter Bishop, a guy she barely knew and who she met on the train coming back home. Shepherd says she hated that storyline and fought tooth and nail against doing it, and she was right. What started out as a vibrant, modern day screwball esque comedy. became a very dramatic show about two people who were miserable but kept trying to make a relationship work. Season five was a slight improvement, but by then the actors were clearly over it.

I was 30, it was one of the few shows I was excited about every week. Although they didn't produce enough episodes for every week.

It was a parody of a detective show with the Bernard Herrmann like music in the background. The show really clicked, just a few things different and it wouldn't have. When people used to ask me where I wanted to work, I always said it was between the Blue Moon detective agency and WJM-TV News in Minneapolis.

Oh shit I was 21 years old when it aired and loved the show.

Yes, I always loved that theme by Al Jarreau. I Also liked his song Girls Know How from the movie Night Shift.

Loved it, for the above-mentioned reasons and it stood out in a huge way, relative to what else was on,

I loved it. I was just old enough to enjoy the playful banter

I was a tween who watched this show with my Mom. At the time, I hated the "quirky" episodes like the Shakespeare one and the song-and-dance one. As an adult, I'd probably appreciate them but as a kid I preferred the straight-forward detective/mystery storyline episodes.

I still think that while she's quite lovely, Cybill is a very mannish looking woman. Not only does she look like a very passable MTF, she looks like she could go a few rounds against Bruce in a boxing ring. No offense intended, just an observation.

I loved Miss DePesto and Herb Viola.

I was also a kid when this aired and some of the dialogue went over my head, but nothing else on tv was like it at the time. You have to remember that a lot of 80s tv was utter shit, and Moonlighting was like a big-budget movie as a tv show.

Didn't Bruce present cock in one of his first movie roles? I remember some underwater action and his massive shlong wobbling like a whale's.

It's popularity was both a cult following, a huge commercial success, an interesting anomaly. Liking it made you feel sort of smart, and other people who loved it were "in the know."

A similar thing happened with The Simpsons years later, during its peak.

(above)

AND a huge commercial success

This was such a great WTF moment...long before spoilers ruined everything.

I remember thinking “Oh no...David was just about to tell Maddie how he feels about her!!!” and at the same time “Fuck, yeah - it’s a partially undressed Mark Harmon looking hotter is hell 😛!”

[quote] Didn't Bruce present cock in one of his first movie roles? I remember some underwater action and his massive shlong wobbling like a whale's.

That was "Color of Night" (1994). The reason I remember is that my friend from grad school who's also gay got a DVD from Blockbuster and made me sit through that dreck only to catch a glimpse of Bruce's cock after I was already ready to strangle him for making me endure that torture of a movie for over an hour.

"Cybill is a very mannish looking woman"

They're called shoulder pads. Everyone wore them the 80s-90s, even bigger ones than Joan Crawford's.

Why is it generally agreed that the series turned to shit by the end?

Moonlighting turned unknown Bruce Willis into a superstar and was a career-making role in the same way Desperate Housewives was for Eva Longoria.

Bruce's ass

Bruce's ass is upstaged by his thick dick.

Sure is

Cybill looked like crap during the last season in comparison to her pre-pregnancy days. She definitely hit a wall.

And I absolutely hated that wet look hairdo she sported.

May 2020 bring you a guy who looks at you the way Bruce looks at Demi in the clip at R3

How long had they been together when that episode took place? Did she leave Emilio for Bruce?

The Al Jarreau theme song has to be the most beautiful in television history. Cyril and Bruce had fantastic chemistry. For me, the show went to shit after they hooked up. ButI loved the episode where Agnes DiPesto was a bitch boss.

Moonlighting was filmed on the same stage at Fox Studios as The Love Boat, Trapper John MD, The Seven Year Itch, All About Eve and The Rose.

[quote]For me, the show went to shit after they hooked up.

Is there a show where the hook up didn't end up ruining the show?

On her sitcom, there was a storyline where Cybill is paired up with an initially charming but ultimately back-stabbing East coast actor (played by Jon Tenney). The actor is brash and a complete asshole, and of course Cybill the character is a complete victim who can do no wrong...

What exactly is wrong with R4? Why would someone like that think we give a fuck?

[quote]Why is it generally agreed that the series turned to shit by the end?

The last season isn't that bad. It has some good moments that are reminiscent of the earlier seasons, and they jettisoned the relationship, bringing in Virginia Madsen to spice things up for a couple of episodes. Rita Wilson also makes an appearance.

The problem is that Bruce and Cybill were clearly done with doing the show, and there was no warmth and passion in their delivery.

I remember loving the first three seasons during its original airing!

I hated that Virginia Madsen storyline.

"Why is it generally agreed that the series turned to shit by the end?"

ALL show turn to shit by the end.

I agree about the theme song. Al Jarreau killed it on that song, it was fabulous. He died not that long ago.

When Die Hard became a monster mega-hit at the box office, Bruce Willis was done with tv and wanted to be a big movie star. He couldn't wait to leave the show.

You have to remember that back in those days there was a huge separation between tv stars and movie stars. Movies were much more prestigious than tv. Today the line between movies and tv has been totally erased, but back then that was still a big thing.

I was in high school when this was on and it was THE talk of the study hall/lunch hour. I remember there was a big divide over the episode where Dave and Maddie finally sleep together. Some kids loved it, others thought it was a letdown after all the buildup.

Does anyone know where the Blue Moon office was supposed to be in LA? Century City? Downtown?

[quote]Why is it generally agreed that the series turned to shit by the end?

The combination of Cybill's and Bruce's gigantic dueling egos, Cybill's pregnancy, Glenn Gordon Caron's bullshit, Bruce's movie success and the mangling of Dave and Maddie getting together just destroyed most of what was special about the show.

Every show turns to shit by the end of the series, R67. At least any show that was fortunate enough to last longer than 2 seasons..

[quote]r72 Cybill looked like crap during the last season in comparison to her pre-pregnancy days. She definitely hit a wall.

Except, she looks amazing in that pic.

What are you talking about?

R33 here - just in case anyone else is interested, here's the full-length version of the original recording of the theme song, which only aired on the show once, over the credits of the pilot episode. Subsequent episodes featured a much shorter edit of the song (a rather choppy one, lovely as it was). Fun fact: the later re-recording of the song for a single release was produced by Nile Rodgers of Chic.

Not on comparison to the earlier seasons, r88. Her years on the show definitely took a toll on her looks.

I stopped watching once it became so heavy on the romance. It killed the show. I loved the wacky capers and rapid fire dialogue.

[quote] The combination of Cybill's and Bruce's gigantic dueling egos, Cybill's pregnancy, Glenn Gordon Caron's bullshit, Bruce's movie success and the mangling of Dave and Maddie getting together just destroyed most of what was special about the show.

In other words: it died hard.

r92, thanks for the New Years groannnnnnnnnnn.

I liked Bruce in this - and in The Sixth Sense. Otherwise I’m with the rest of the DLers who got sick of him and stories of his overly inflated ego post-Moonlighting.

(and Death Becomes Her would have been better with Kevin Kline!)

I remember whenever I used to catch the show in reruns (I believe Lifetime used to show it), it was always, always, always the episode of the woman in the black veil. It's a helluva episode but I wanted to see others and I only seemed to catch that one.

They had to re-score the hilarious chase scene in the woman in the black veil episode when they released it on DVD - must have been a copyright issue with the music. For someone who had seen that episode a million times before, it kind of ruined it a bit.

I know what you mean R12. I don't if you're old enough to remember it, but this one always hits me in the childhood feels.

r12, I know what you mean. The themes that hit me the hardest seem to be the ones I heard as they streamed from the living room into my dark bedroom after I had been sent to bed. The Bob Newhart theme is one of those.

Bruce had (has?) the goods to back up his huge ego and cockiness. He's sexy as hell with charisma to burn and he knows that you know it.

Who would be the modern equivalent? I can't think of any "Sexy and I Know It" TV or film star.

"Moonlighting" came into the third season on a huge high. They were on the cover of "Newsweek" to promote it. And the season was doing gangbusters until Mark Harmon showed up and Shepherd's long maternity leave happened and then the show just kinda imploded.

R100, the show's publicist got Newsweek to do a cover story. Celeb/TV/movie magazine covers just don't happen. Moonlighting was super popular, but without the publicist, no magazine covers.

"I liked Bruce in this - and in The Sixth Sense"

I became fixated on his "I have a receding hairline" wig.

Willis had the working class looks and smart attitude down perfectly. He was sexy.

The ridiculous vaseline-on-the-lens in every shot with Cybill became tiresome.

BRUCE WAS SMOKING !!!!!!!

I did and stopped watching when the whole "going away to find herself" season started. YAWN.

[quote]r72 And I absolutely hated that wet look hairdo she sported.

For the first season, Shepherd's hair was long and loose, without a lot of product in it. But the men on the show were irritated by how it had to be combed out before each scene. So she was forced to put a lot of spray or gel in it for the following seasons, to save time.

I didn’t mind the Vaseline on the lens filters used on Cybill. I thought it added to the visual tone of the show and it was never anywhere near Barbara Walters level of distracting.

I was a young teen when it was on but remember my older cousins loving it. Didn't Mark Harmon play a hot astronaut who dated Cybil?

R107 I agree — though she certainly didn’t need it.

The scary part is she was only 35 when she started the show — was she actually considered “older?”

35 back then was older than 35 today.

This Old Heart Of Mine

This was a way too adult show that I watched as a young kid. The thing I remember is that they completely botched the end. They built up the relationship for years and I don't think ever followed through because CS went on maternity leave.

People pretty much turned if off after the first two seasons, but it continued popularity in other countries.

Never understood while Cybil Shepard was considered a great beauty - she was attractive in her teens and early 20's (Taxi Driver), but she wasn't all THAT.

And yes, I hate watched Bruce Willis. Found him so sexy and then so repugnant in everything afterwards.

Bruce Willis was a star from the first episode. Yes, he's an asshole but he had a lot of star quality.

Unfortunately that star quality faded as his hairline receded.

That rumor about Bruce and Michael J. Fox makes sense, given his predilection for chicken as evinced by Aaron Carter.

Watched it while in High School. My honors English class watched the Shakespeare episode in class and while most of us had already seen it, it was still so fun to watch. I think my teacher was surprised at how good it was.

It was THE show in the 80's. Everyone knew it and everyone loved Bruce. When he started doing the sexy wine cooler commercials it made Seagrams very, very popular. I think Seagram's wine cooler was my first taste of alcohol.

r103 The ridiculous vaseline-on-the-lens in every shot with Cybill became tiresome.

Blame that on the male producers and studio executives. They just wanted to see a female one way - seemingly young, dewy, and blemishless.

I think she looks better in the later seasons that someone was complaining about before. She looks harder, but more real.

[quote]r113 Never understood while Cybil Shepard was considered a great beauty - she was attractive in her teens and early 20's (Taxi Driver), but she wasn't all THAT.

I think something that made her sexy to straight men was she seemed extremely, almost aggressively, confident.

She wasn't a shrinking, Queen of the May type. She was bold. The fact that she was demanding made her a challenge.

I wasn't allowed to watch TV back then (religious mom). But we'd sneak and watch it when Mom was at bible study. I loved it!! Bruce was so damn hot then. And I wanted to walk across that bridge in her mansion SO BAD.

[quote] People pretty much turned if off after the first two seasons

Three seasons. It was the fourth season Cybill went out on maternity leave. Season 3 was wildly popular despite the repeats that constantly aired because original episodes weren’t ready on time.

Here's a thread about this show from not long ago with some good links and tidbits. The first 3 seasons are near perfection, still ranks as one of my all time favorites, and then it just completed imploded.

Tim Maculan, the actor who played the snarky gay waiter in the restaurant they always ate at, was a client of my friend's tanning salon in West Hollywood. Whenever he would come in for a session, I would kill myself trying to figure out where I'd seen him from. He didn't act nor talk that way and was actually better built than you'd think.

One day, as he was leaving, for some reason, this show popped into my head. I pointed a finger at him and said Cybil. He just grinned and walked out the door. Our paths never crossed again, but he was one of my favorite characters.

Anyone remember the episode where they address the "vaseline on the lens" issue? There was a shot where they quick cut to Maddy/Cybil and she holds up a softening scrim/filter in front of her face and says her line.

It was funny as hell but I don't remember which episode.

R124 the Rona Barrett one.

They were using the Lucy "Mame" camera lens on Cybil.

I think the first two-three seasons still hold up. They're very funny and well-written. And the chemistry between Willis and Shepherd is strong.

I think Shepherd is a good actress. But it's a shame that she hurt both shows - especially Cybill - because her ego couldn't take being the funny one.

The magic ingredient in both Moonlighting and Cybill was the chemistry between Shepherd and Willis and Baranski, respectively. Shepherd being the straight man (woman) in both cases was part of that magic.

[quote] The show was little before most of our times here on DL.

Umm No. Most of Datalounge is 50+.

I wish you could stream this somewhere. For a show that was at the center of pop culture it seemed to be forgotten pretty quickly. Probably because hardly anyone was satisfied with the way the story evolved. But I'm still curious to see how well it holds up. Like others I remember kids talking about it at school the next day, especially after Dave and Maddie hooked up.

Re Cybill's age - She may not have been that old, but her career had peaked a decade earlier and she hadn't had done much in the meantime. So it was a bit of a comeback . To younger viewers she was as much of a newcomer as Willis.

Stream away r129....

I saw it occasionally under slight protest when over visiting with friends from work once or twice. The same went for Miami Vice. I was a tv snob at the time and would roll my eyes when I had to watch anything.

It wasn’t until The Sopranos that I allowed myself to start watching tv again.

I admit the wistful theme song is lovely and touching, especially when the show was on I had suffered a momentary setback in my career and have to work the night shift for a while, in an office building in Hell’s Kitchen. Not exactly moonlighting, but close enough.

Why don’t we have an edit feature, oh lovely queen Muriel? We desperately need one.

Second paragraph should read:

[quote]I admit the wistful theme song is lovely and touching, especially for me because, when the show was on, I had suffered a momentary setback in my career and had to work the night shift for a while, in an office building in Hell’s Kitchen. Not exactly moonlighting, but close enough.

Cybill was beautiful in her day, but no Donna Mills. As most of us do, she aged in her late 30s. Donna seemed to defy the aging process as did Joan Collins to some degree. That was the 80's. While not at the peak of her beauty by the time of Moonlighting, Cybill was a bonafide sex symbol during that era and her face seemed to be everywhere. Bruce was the one who emerged a STAR (Die Hard made him into a megastar actually) due to his time on the show and I have fond memories of watching as a kid (who likely missed most of the intricacies and adult themes). Mostly, I remembered critics hailing it as THE smartest show on TV and my parents took note and never missed an episode.

R133 I think she was at her most gorgeous then, actually. She had a much more iconic and striking look — the hair, the clothes, the overall confidence, etc.

In the 70s she was very pretty of course but not particularly memorable looking. And her broader build served her much better with the 80s styles

R134, she was certainly glamorous and beautiful circa Moonlighting - no doubt there.

[quote]I wish you could stream this somewhere. For a show that was at the center of pop culture it seemed to be forgotten pretty quickly.

Probably at least partly because there were too few episodes for it to have had much of a life in syndication/reruns. There are lots of episodes posted on Youtube, which is not ideal, but better than nothing.

[quote] The magic ingredient in both Moonlighting and Cybill was the chemistry between Shepherd and Willis and Baranski, respectively. Shepherd being the straight man (woman) in both cases was part of that magic.

100%. Nobody thinks of MTM as the lesser star on her show. Cybill’s strength was playing the straight woman and she was awful and obnoxious whenever she hammed it up (those last 2 years on Cybill especially).

Alan Ball dishes on being a writer for "Cybil" and how he hated it. 14:16.

[quote] BRUCE WAS SMOKING !!!!!!!

He was smoking something when he made [italic]Hudson Hawk[/italic], but at least he didn't have to dress up as a pink rabbit.

[quote] Probably at least partly because there were too few episodes for it to have had much of a life in syndication/reruns. There are lots of episodes posted on Youtube, which is not ideal, but better than nothing.

5 seasons

There are certainly shows with 5 or less that run constantly. For example Gilligan’s Island ran for only 3 seasons.

My first long term partner looked like hot Bruce. People on the street would occasional stop him for an autograph.

Sigh, he passed away at age 34 from AIDS.

100 episodes is the magic number shows try to produce to assure an easier sale for syndication, r140. Traditionally most shows produce an average of around 20-22 episodes per season so 5 seasons gets them to that number. But Moonlighting only produced 66 episodes over its 5 seasons. Gilligan's Island only ran for 3 seasons but produced 98 total episodes.

Thank you, R142. You saved me some typing. From the show's Wiki page:

[quote]As the show had not produced enough episodes to gain a syndication contract, following its original run it was not widely seen until its DVD release, although it occasionally appeared on cable channels (including Lifetime and Bravo in the US, and W in Canada) in the 1990s and 2000s.

Yes, R77 - Cheers. Sam and Diane hooked up quite early on, but their on-again-off-again romance lasted all the seasons Shelley Long was in it, and never went off the boil.

Hart to Hart was an example of a detective show featuring an in-love married couple that worked.

Not sure why Glenn Gordon Caron couldn't take a leaf out of either of those books. Cybill's pregnancy (like Jane Leaves's) was catastrophically ill-timed, though, and there were the problems that Bruce couldn't stand her and that he was getting movie offers.

Watching reruns of “Cybill” on Tubi.

Cybill was pretty good in the first two seasons, though she still doesn’t come close to her Moonlighting days (the first three seasons) in which she did the best work of her career.

By the third season, however, she was hamming it up big time and practically screaming all of her lines at the other actors. I guess she thought loud was funny?

[quote] Cybill was beautiful in her day, but no Donna Mills.

That's not Donna Mills, that's Barbara Mandrell.^^

Cybill was cunt before cunt was cool.

R129, I agree. I’d even be happy with the DVDs, but Amazon has only Seasons 1 and 2 … for the low, low price of $131. I wonder why Moonlighting DVDs are no longer widely available?

R130, thank you, but that site set my anti-virus software off like a fire alarm.

R184, good point. The ‘80s were the last good decade in terms of fashion for non-waiflike women. The broad shoulders, tight waists and long, flowing skirts set off a womanly figure well. Since then, styles are all for little girls.

There are used copies of Seasons 1 and 2 starting at $16 on amazon. They have the rest of the seasons as well but the prices are high even for used. It's funny because I remember seeing them in the discount bins at Rite Aid for like $10 a season years ago. I think I bought all the seasons except the final one which is of course the most expensive to buy now.

Since the series was filmed it seems like it could get a hi-def upgrade to Blu-ray but maybe sales weren't good enough to justify the costs. It would be nice if a budget label like Mill Creek would do a complete series collection even if it's just on DVD.

Thanks to you all I got this show on DVD. I did watch it all the way through but found that when Agnes got that annoying whiny boyfriend the series went downhill.

The finale however was classic.

Disney owns the rights. Even if they make HD remasters, they'll sit on them for years and years. Shout! and other third-party companies expect studios to foot the bill for remastering while they eat the costs of making the discs themselves.

Mill Creek has improved where Blu-ray is concerned. Look at their box set of [italic]Charlie's Angels[/italic]. If that can come out, then the possibilities are endless.

In the last season, they investigated a plastic surgeon. If I recall correctly Maddie goes in to see him “undercover” and the plastic surgeon tells her that her face is perfect and wouldn’t require any alterations. I was like...um, not anymore! 🙄

You can still occasionally find Moonlighting DVDs in thrift shops. I found the first two seasons (sealed) at Value Village and the last season at a dollar store.

It would be nice to have HD remasters of the show, though.

That show was never ON. Really, week after week, it was seldom on.

I never thought it was that great. It got tiresome very quickly. And I always loathed Cybill Shepherd. I can't stand to watch anything she's in.

I bought the DVDs many years ago and hung on to them even though everyone said I should get rid of them and all my DVDs because "no one has DVDs anymore!"

I keep my DVDs. You never know if it will end up on streaming or if it does, if it will be edited or censored.

[quote]thank you, but that site set my anti-virus software off like a fire alarm.

Ublock Origin